Pedrosa sets the fastest time in Buriram, Marquez shows the best pace

Today in Thailand, the Repsol Honda Team concluded another very productive session of testing that saw Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa continue working on the general development of their RC213V, carrying out tests on the latest engine configuration, chassis, aerodynamics, and Michelin tyres. Over the three days, Marc completed a total of 271 laps, Dani 224.

Dani set the fastest time of the day and the best overall in 1’29.781” on lap 77 of 78, also completing a 15-lap long run in the morning.

Marc completed a very impressive race simulation in the afternoon, featuring a long string of high-1’30” laps. His quickest time today was a 1’30.143” on lap 27 of 96, the fourth-fastest among all riders (yesterday’s best of 1’29.969” places him third in the combined classification).

The Repsol Honda riders will now fly to Jakarta, Indonesia, for the official Team Launch on 20 February.

Dani Pedrosa

1st1'29.781 on lap 77 of 78

“We leave Thailand with positive feelings. The test was quite tough as the temperatures were high, and we worked really hard over the three days. In the end we didn’t have many tyres left, so we had to carefully manage the planning of our work. We worked on many aspects of the bike’s setup, and step-by-step we improved our speed and pace. Among other things, today we tested a carbon swing arm that’s a new area for us to work on, so we’re still in the process of learning and of finding the feeling. I’m very happy with the job my team is doing at the track, and with what the engineers are doing back in Japan. They’re really helping us to improve, and this is good and gives us confidence. Hopefully we’ll be able to continue this trend at the final test in Qatar, which will be very interesting as conditions will be different.”

Marc Marquez

4th (3rd in the Combined Standings)1'30.143 on lap 27 of 96 (1’29.969 in the Combined Standings)

“I’m very, very happy with what we did today, as we completed many laps and were able to improve the bike’s setup in several areas. Our lap times today were slower than yesterday, but we worked differently and I didn’t push for a time attack. We completed a 20-lap long run with a strong pace, and I also felt good from a physical-conditioning point of view, which was very satisfying. Today we worked on some new things, including a carbon swing arm that we had actually already tried, so we were able to do some back-to-back tests. Of course we’re just starting our work on that, so we’re still in the phase where there are both positives and negatives and we need to understand it better. The new aerodynamics was quite positive, I liked it today. It requires a little bit different riding style, but I managed to be very consistent on used tyres with it so I’m happy about that as well.”

MotoGP 2018Sunday, February 18th 2018

TestingThai Official TestThailand

Day 3

Sunny

Track Temp

49°C

Air Temp

36°C

Pos.

Rider

Num

Nation

Team

Constructor

Time/Gap

1

Pedrosa Dani

26

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

1'29.781

2

Zarco Johann

5

FRA

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

0.086

3

Crutchlow Cal

35

GBR

LCR Honda

Honda

0.283

4

Marquez Marc

93

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

0.362

5

Rins Alex

42

SPA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

0.397

6

Miller Jack

43

AUS

Pramac Racing

Ducati

0.409

7

Dovizioso Andrea

4

ITA

Ducati Team

Ducati

0.411

8

Nakagami Takaaki

30

JPN

LCR Honda

Honda

0.675

9

Rabat Tito

53

SPA

Reale Avintia Racing

Ducati

0.695

10

Rossi Valentino

46

ITA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

0.730

11

Petrucci Danilo

9

ITA

Pramac Racing

Ducati

0.792

12

Vinales Maverick

25

SPA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

0.809

13

Morbidelli Franco

21

ITA

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Honda

0.867

14

Espargaro Aleix

41

SPA

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

0.920

15

Iannone Andrea

29

ITA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

0.937

16

Smith Bradley

38

GBR

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

1.140

17

Kallio Mika

36

FIN

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

1.388

18

Redding Scott

45

GBR

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

1.530

19

Luthi Tom

12

SWI

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Honda

1.573

20

Bautista Alvaro

19

SPA

Angel Nieto Team

Ducati

1.705

21

Syahrin Hafizh

55

MAL

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Yamaha

1.756

22

Lorenzo Jorge

99

SPA

Ducati Team

Ducati

1.846

23

Simeon Xavier

10

BEL

Reale Avintia Racing

Ducati

2.238

24

Abraham Karel

17

CZE

Angel Nieto Team

Ducati

2.243

Gallery

Images are copyright but free for editorial use.

Location Information

Designed by German architect Herman Tilke, the Buriram International Circuit opened in 2014 and will see MotoGP™ making its debut this season. Located around 410km northeast from the country’s capital of Bangkok, the town of Buriram in the Buriram province literally translates into “city of happiness”, and its typically hot… read more.

Location Information

Designed by German architect Herman Tilke, the Buriram International Circuit opened in 2014 and will see MotoGP™ making its debut this season. Located around 410km northeast from the country’s capital of Bangkok, the town of Buriram in the Buriram province literally translates into “city of happiness”, and its typically hot… read more.